Where the HECK have I been?!

Well, If nobody is reading this, I would surely not blame them.  There is no excuse for my absence in blogging.  Oh wait - let me see if I can find one real quick.

Let's see, what have the Morgans been up to the last two years since I posted anything?  Well, we left Greenville, Mississippi, and are back in Mesa, Arizona.  That, my friends, is more of an accomplishment than you know.  Geoff had a three year contract with Walgreens and the Greenville store, but we knew, almost as quickly as we moved to Greenville, that we were going to have to find a way to leave sooner.  It was extremely hard on the kids.  And me. And Geoff. And all of the family living away from us who were always worrying about us being hit by a tornado.  Moving to Greenville was like stepping back in time 50 years.  I never in my wildest dreams would have imagined there were still places like Greenville in the USA! Let me just put it this way... they had every part of that town segregated.  The town in almost 80% black, with the other 20% being white.  I don't recall ever seeing a Hispanic person while we lived there.  There were a hand full of Asians who worked in the nail salons, but that is the only place they could be found.  The town was divided in to four groups: either you were black and stayed away from white people, or white and stayed away from the blacks, or you were black and hated by the blacks because you were trying to act white, or white and trying to love everyone, but then you were hated by the whites, because you were nice to the blacks.  Our family belonged in category 4.  It was hard.  You may think that I am exaggerating, but I am not.  In the year I was there I never even saw ONE interracial FRIENDSHIP, much less a RELATIONSHIP! In fact, I don't even recall seeing a black woman and white woman talking to each other.  I got the strangest looks at the checkout line at Walmart when I was trying to start up a conversation with a black person.  I still did it, all the time, but I found that I had to act a little more black for them to talk back to me.  I even found myself doing that two nights ago at Walmart here in Mesa with a black cashier.  I saw a candy bar coming up on the conveyor belt, that I didn't know was there, and I was like, "oh no - you best not be trying ta sneak all KINDS of stuff behind my back... fer real!"  Then I looked at the cashier and smiled, and she was confused.  I forget sometimes where I am.

I hate to label, black and white... I really hate it.  I have absolutely no prejudice against blacks.  I love all of God's children, but I am just trying to paint a picture of how it truly was there.  So much segregation, that they still have black prom and white prom at the schools that aren't already entirely black, or entirely white.... which isn't many, actually.  But honestly, nobody complains about it, because that is how both sides want it, I've been told!

Since I just explained check out lines at Walmart, I will tell you of a funny experience I had while checking out one day.  A lady and her daughter, I assume, were checking out in front of me in line, and she and the cashier got to talking.  The cashier asked the lady, "What her name be?" To which the lady answered "LaReqwalia". The cashier looked at her in what should have been even MORE of an astonishment and said, "LaReqwalia? That be my grandbaby's name!"  Only a few minutes later I came through the line with Staci in the cart, and she asked me, only AFTER I initiated conversation, "What her name be?" "Staci", I said with a smile.  The response I got was enough to prove my point here.... "Who?"

Anyway, enough about Greenville.  I could go on and on and on.  So, Geoff was able to somehow miraculously find a store back in Arizona that needed a pharmacist.  Walgreens didn't have to let him transfer, but they did.  That was surely nice of them.  So, after buying a house, and just barely getting unpacked, we packed up and moved again.  This time for about 4 months to Pinetop first, where Geoff was filling in for a pharmacist on medical leave, and then back to Mesa.  We knew we wanted to buy a house again (we got lucky and sold our Greenville house really quickly - actually, Natalie sold it... but that is another story for another time) so we started looking.  The market had really picked up and we were surprised at how hard it was to even get a house.  Also, we had a little hiccup in some of our school loans, so we had to straighten that out before we could even qualify.  So, what we thought would be another REALLY quick stay in my Grandma and Grandpa Hiatt's basement apartment, turned in to NINE more months! Right before we moved to Mississippi we were living in that basement for NINE months, and before that, with Geoff's parents for THREE months... all of the time, on both ends of Mississippi, all of our stuff was in storage (that is a total of two years out of three).  We didn't have a computer, the internet.... or even a dishwasher or garbage disposal.  Our kids were all sharing a little room with make-shift closets, and I was going crazy!

So, we finally bought our "forever home" (or at least that's what I am calling it because I am so sick of moving) a couple of months ago.  We are all set up with a computer, the internet, and even a dishwasher.  We have moved SIX times in the last three years.... yes, SIX - across three states, and to tell you the truth, I AM TIRED! I haven't recovered yet.  BUT, when I do.... I am sure I will be better at blogging!

Going Places

Last weekend we went up to Branson, Missouri for a few days. We had a blast, and for sure want to go back! Silver Dollar City was by far the best part, and we plan to get a season pass next year, (because they are almost as cheap as going once) so that we can go over and over. We loved it!

They had a huge 4 story ball area that was a blast for the kids when they were a little tired of all the walking.
This swing ride went really high and so fast that you swing way out to the side. Natalie and Jackson went on it at least 5 times.

They had a whole area with original 1840's homes, churches, schools and things. I had to document that Staci actually petted the goats! I couldn't believe she did it, because she is scared of flies, butterflies, cats, puppies and everything else she has ever been exposed to!

The kids got to go to school in an 1840's school house. They had such a fun time that when it was done Natalie said, "I want to stay after school". We all thought that was funny since there was a whole amusement park out there to see! The stars they are holding are ones they made using the same technique Betsy Ross used when she sewed the first flag. I guess George Washington had asked Betsy Ross to make the flag using 6 point stars instead of 5, but she told him that she knew how to make a 5 point star with just one cut, so he let her do it that way, instead.

The girls posing in their July 4th attire. We all had flag shirts, along with pretty much every other person at Silver Dollar City.

The day before Silver Dollar City we went on the "Branson Belle". It is a dinner and show on the riverboat. It was really fun. There were several hundred people on this cruise, if not more, and Natalie was the only person chosen to go up and down the aisles dancing with one of the waitresses there to get everyone in a happy mood. I couldn't get a good picture (thanks to a lot of moving and not a very good camera!) but I thought I better put the blurry picture on anyway. We thought that was pretty funny and cute! She did a good job!

A Happy Momma and Daddy

Branson Butterfly Palace was really fun for the kids. They had a thousand butterflies just flying around the room. You weren't supposed to touch them, but if they land on you, you should just let them fly off when they feel like it. I think Jackson had three on him for a while, and one that stayed on while he walked around for about 20 minutes. Pretty Cool!

Oh, the dinner cruise again

Speaking of dinner - we went to a fun place called "Lambert's Cafe" (home of the thrown rolls) You may have seen this place on the Travel Channel. It was a blast and the food was good.... and humongous... as you can see with Jackson's plate. He was in shrimp heaven!!

A little climbing of the palm trees

All the drinks were the same size at Lambert's .... 64 oz. Natalie couldn't make a dent in her milk.

WE LOVE YOU

and hope you get feeling better soon!!

So, this is random, but....

This is a picture Jackson took in May of 2010 on his 2nd grade field trip to the Salt Lake City Zoo. I wouldn't have believed that he took it if I hadn't been there watching him take pictures... with an old camera, by the way. It was one that I gave him to be his from now on, and I kind of forgot about it until the other day when he was looking at the pictures on it and reminded me. I didn't do a single thing to enhance, or even crop the picture. Pretty good, huh? I think it belongs in a book... and I also think Jackson has a future in photography!

Where to Start?

So, we finally bought a new computer. Our old one died in October 2009. It was time. I decided I was going to upload some pictures from our camera to our computer.... or maybe all 1168 or them. The problem was I couldn't find the little adapter thing for the camera. Well, I found it finally, and as I was looking through all of the pics, I realized I have some MAJOR catching up to do. I honestly don't even know where to start. I think I will start from today and work backwards, 'cause if I start somewhere other than today, I'll be behind on today, as well! Did that make sense?

Well, I decided that I need to take more pictures of my kids. Lately I haven't had much motivation to do it. I don't know if it's the whole "I can't really walk" thing, or not. Yeah, that's probably it, now that I think about it. By the way, I found out last week that I have torn tendons in the same spot on both of my ankles. I knew something was wrong. I am supposed to be staying off of them and seeing if there is any way to let them heal, but it looks like I may need surgery on both feet. I will keep you informed!

Anyway, a couple of days ago Staci actually had her hair done, and she even had clothes on, so I decided to go in the backyard and take some pictures. This is what I came up with - Staci is such a beautiful girl, even though I am a biased Mom.

Some of the flowers growing in our backyard. Too bad it is so STINKIN' hot that nobody really goes back there and enjoys them!